Drinking Makes You Gay

Ken AshfordScience & TechnologyLeave a Comment

I think the first part of this scientific study is a no-brainer:

A team of researchers at Penn State has used an animal model to reveal, for the first time, a physiological basis for the effect of alcohol on male sexual behavior, including increased sexual arousal and decreased sexual inhibition….

It is the first study to characterize the effects of chronic alcohol exposure in fruit flies. "Physiological evidence supporting various theories about the effect of alcoholic drinks has been lacking, so our now having a suitable animal model makes it possible to conduct much-needed laboratory research on this issue," explains research-team-leader Kyung-An Han, associate professor of biology and a neuroscientist at Penn State. Information from this research can serve as a baseline for similar studies in other animals, including humans.

In contrast to previous studies in other labs, which subjected fruit flies to short-term doses of ethanol — the intoxicating ingredient in alcoholic drinks — Han’s team administered to fruit flies a daily dose of ethanol to more closely mimic the drinking habits of alcoholics and chronic alcohol abusers. The team investigated several factors that influence the physiological effects of ethanol, including genetic and cellular components, age, and prior experience.

Drinking leads to decreased sexual inhibition?  You think???

But then the study actually did hit upon something new:

Among the team’s discoveries is that male fruit flies, which typically court females, also actively court males when they are given a daily dose of ethanol.

Okay, to suggest that "drinking makes you gay" is a slight extrapolation, but still….